Renaissance of Indian hockey

The just concluded Sultan Johar Cup in Malaysia has given Indian Hockey much desired tonic. Just a few days ago our Senior Team lost the hard fought final in the same country of Asian Hockey Championship. Juniors were favorites to lift the cup and lived up to the expectations.

Before the tournament, South African coach of Indian team Gregg Clark said that winning the cup is important but he stressed that he wants to see his team improve game by game. Truly, team did exactly that. Clark along with veteran coach Baljeet Saini is doing wonders. Best part of the team is possession on ball and accurate passing. It proves that team has got the basics right and playing as a unit.

Goal keeping South African coach Dave Staniforth is nurturing world class custodians at both Junior and Senior levels. GK Harjot is his proud disciple and so is Sreejesh. Such was the domination of custodian that throughout the championship, he could be beaten on least no. of occasions and only 3 goals were scored against him on Penalty corners.

Team played as a dominant force throughout the tournament. Field Hockey was at its best. For me, the best display came in match against Pakistan in second half. When was the last time when India defeated Pakistan by a margin of 4 Goals? We reduced Korea to minnows handing them tennis score line of double break, 6-1. Game against Argentina was the only game where we have to come from behind before registering victory. In league game against Malaysia we squandered 2 goal advantage, conceded 3 goals in 8 minutes but equalized in the dying moments. It shows that team has the capacity to bounce back from the hiccups and a hunger to excel.

Combination of Ramandeep and Manpreet proved lethal to the opposition. When one has the ball, other positions himself and the vica-versa. Vice captain Affan Yousuf gave teeth to the forward line scoring all important 4 goals in the tournament, one behind leader Ramandeep. Defense line was absolutely rock solid. It’s heartening to note that for the first time, we have strong bench of the juniors. Akashdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Malak Singh, Devendra Valmiki, S K Uttappa are some of the few talents who are waiting at home.

Team never came under pressure against home favourites in the final. Ultra Band in the stands continued to drum loud music and energize their players but Indian squad remained unperturbed and not allowed opposition any hold on the match. Malaysians were having services of 4 drag flickers. Team did its homework correctly and not provided Malaysians much desired opportunities of crating PCs.

But there is a point of worry. Amit Rohidas, hailed as PC specialist didn’t delivered goods. He is nowhere near senior drag flick specialists Raghunath and Rupinder. Throughout the tournament, we continued to struggle in this area. Sukhmanjeet was far from the target. Another area of concern is taking too many cards per game. One can understand that young blood boils early but these are not the signs of mature heads.

Before U-21 World cup in Delhi, it was the last big opportunity for Indian team to improve and prove their skill and talent. They did justice. All the teams against whom we played here are featuring in the World Cup in Delhi in December. Boys are not far too behind their junior eves. Many youngsters are already part of senior squad. If we feed the saplings correctly and perfectly blend them with seniors then Golden future is in the grasp. This could be the renaissance year for Indian Hockey.